Malawi launches 2014/15 Fisp

The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development on Tuesday launched the 2014/15 Farm Input Subsidy Programme (Fisp) in Chitipa for farmers to start buying the inputs.

However, despite the launch, some parts of the country are yet to receive the subsidised inputs, according to recent investigations by The Nation and a report by the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development.

But speaking at the national launch in Chitipa, Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Allan Chiyembekeza said suppliers had challenges with funds to dispatch the commodities to various areas.

Said the minister: “We had challenges in dispatching the inputs to various areas. But I have been informed that starting from yesterday [Monday] the inputs have been dispatched to various areas. We should expect that by the end of this week, most parts of the areas should have the commodities.”

Fisp coordinator Christina Mtambo said the ministry will prioritise hard-to-reach areas in its distribution.

However, she said the challenge is that some areas do not have enough warehouses.

This year, 1.5 million smallholder farming families are expected to benefit from a budgeted 150 000 metric tons or 3.8 million 50kg bags of fertiliser. In the Northern Region, 193 800 families are expected to benefit from an allocation of 19 380 metric tons of fertiliser.

Karonga Agriculture Development Division (Kradd), which covers Chitipa and Karonga districts, is expected to have 49 100 beneficiaries from an allocation of 4 910 metric tons of fertiliser.

But out of this allocation, 2 021.75 metric tons of fertiliser have been delivered to its various markets.

Chitipa district commissioner (DC) Grace Chirwa asked government to provide markets for farmers in the district, saying: “Chitipa would probably feed the whole of the Northern Region.”